Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star
UPDATED: May 1, 2008
It was not an auspicious beginning. Somewhere around 5:15, Mackie and I headed over to the Mission for a very late lunch. She really had her heart set on some fat sandwich action at La Torta Gorda.
Citysearch said that LTG closed at 6:00. Citysearch was wrong. LTG closed at 5:00. We were on the wrong side of the door. Mackie was mad with a capital “P.”
We headed a block deeper into the Mish, landing at Sugarlump. If you haven’t been there, I highly recommend Sugarlump. It’s an indy coffeehouse that makes some fine espresso drinks, is furnished like a bad ‘60s living room and has free Wi-Fi access. This last point was key to salvaging our venture.
While Mackie vented enough steam to froth a grandé latté, I jumped onto the Internet to find alternate dining plans. Searching for places in the Mission, Little Star Pizza stood out. We decided to give it a go.
Our first omen of good fortune was when we found free, legal, on-street parking in front of Good Vibrations. We’d been ready to shell out for the pay lot at 20th and Valencia but great karma prevailed.
Good fortune continued when we discovered that we could bypass the wait for a table by eating at the bar. After our fat sandwich disappointment, this was a good thing ‘cuz we were getting hungry and grumpy.
The pizza was excellent – not Hall of Fame caliber like COCO500 or L'Osteria Del Forno – but a starter on the All-Star team.
Little Star cranks out thick and thin crust pizza. Mackie and I both went thin. She opted for a small (12 inch) cheese ($11.00) while I selected a small pepperoni ($12.50). The base pie is stellar – thin, crisp crust that holds up, right proportions of sauce and cheese. The pepperoni delivered classic taste, was sliced to an appropriate thickness and was spread generously across the pizza’s surface.
The two pizzas were filling enough that we took ¾ of a pie home. Ordering a large with ½ pepperoni would have saved some lire and provided plenty to eat. OTOH, the leftovers reheated nicely in the oven the following afternoon.
The only sour note of the meal was the salad. I had the small mixed greens with cherry tomatoes, red bell peppers, onions, gorgonzola, walnuts, and vinaigrette ($6.00). It was very good. All you places that charge north of $10 for a starter salad, take note! This is a nice salad at a nice price.
Mackie asked for the same sans walnuts because she’s allergic. She was informed that, because of the way the store the salad ingredients, they couldn’t ensure that any of their salads would be totally walnut free and advised her to not order salad of any kind.
Not being able to fulfill such a simple request is horrendously bad service and is just plain stupid. It’s a freakin’ lawsuit waiting to happen! I mean, how’s someone who’s allergic to walnuts supposed to know not to order the Caprese? Walnuts aren’t an ingredient so they’d have no reason to ask if the Caprese was safe for them to eat!!! C’mon people, organize your storage and workspace properly and this won’t be an issue for anyone.
On a subsequent visit, I ordered the Caprese ($9.00) with some extra green olives to ratchet up the saltiness. I've decided that Capreses need to be salty to be good. The kitchen graciously complied and served a good salad with tasty, red, ripe tomatoes, fresh mozzarella, chopped basil and drizzled with EVOO and balsamic. To be grumpy, adding some capers, using full basil leaves and deleting the balsamic would have made for a better salad. But those are nits — it was a solid offering that I thoroughly enjoyed.
The staff was nice and helpful. The draft beer was reasonably priced. There’s an interesting anti-graffiti screed hanging on the restroom wall. It seems to be working.
Mackie’s inability to secure roughage notwithstanding, we’ll be back. The Little Star shines brightly.
Little Star Pizza
400 Valencia Street
at 15th Street
San Francisco, CA 94103
415-551-7827
Map
Web site
Food inspection score: 100
Symbol of Excellence: No
Now accepting cards!!!
I just found this site and I'm loving it. You highlight a lot of hard-to-find places, and your love of COCO500 makes me want to try it (I've always dismissed it). Just when I was getting bored of the SF food scene, I find myself with a whole new list to try. Hard Knox is next.
My fave restaurant, and Check Please! favorite - Woodward's Garden. Try it and let me see what you think!
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